Ethnographic Review of Canary Wharf Platform London.

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<td>Part of a conference paper to ID@50 at University of Bath June 2016. <br><br>Provides video evidence for an explication of boarding
and alighting are similar activities. Taken on 17 November 2015 @ approx 19:30<br><p>How are passengers suggestible?</p>
<p>To answer this
question, we unfold the <u>surprising similarities</u> in the way passengers
move between things that are <u>very different</u>. Differences include being
on the train, boarding or alighting, moving on escalators or lifts, and being
on a concourse in a crowded underground station. People stand and sit comfortably on the
train. As the train decelerates the brakes start to squeal and momentum pushes
us towards each other; grasps for handholds stops us falling over. The recorded
announcement of a female’s calming and reassuring voice states… <i>'The next station is Canary Wharf. Change
for the DLR.’ </i>In the last moments before the train stops, the platform is
crowded with people standing in queues. Arriving in the 'evening peak' hour at
about six o’clock, crowds of people have left their offices and are now
travelling mostly back to Central London. Our train is travelling in the peak
westbound direction towards London Bridge, Westminster and North London. We
feel apprehensive as the train doors open and have to move quickly and jostle
from our previous quiet and relaxed position into a melee as our ‘fight or
flight’ instincts kicks in. Fortunately, staying calm, many passengers wait on
the platform in fairly neat queues allowing us to exit (see Figure 1) before they all rush in (see Figure 3). A space in front of the opening platform
edge screen allows us to flow walk past people calmly waiting carrying or
reading books, playing with phones and electronic gadgets, or standing quietly.
Queues extend the whole way across the platform leaving space to walk. Half way
across the platform, turning and looking back towards the train, few people
alight. The half-empty train quickly fills up and leaves the station without
delay. The platform empties slightly, and then quickly refills again like a
constantly leaking bucket under a dripping tap. The next train arrives a few
minutes later. Turning around we see the platform from the perspective of the
boarding passengers. Long queues of passengers wait patiently without panic or
rushing to board the train home. This all feels like a ‘normal’ London
commuting context. People wear shoulder bags and small back packs. Continuing
our journey across the crowded, eighteen metre-wide platform, passengers wait
to board the eastbound trains towards Stratford. Looking upwards, an escalator
takes people to the concourse, while an adjacent escalator takes people
downwards. A LUL platform customer assistant wears bright orange 'hi-vi' vests,
and observes passengers waiting to board the eastbound train. Small gaps
between and the alongside the escalators allow space to zigzag past passengers
walking in the opposite direction. The station platform opens up into a wider
waiting area and feels more comfortable and less stressful; a momentary pause.
Constant flows of crowds enter the station via the escalators. A slightly
harassed LUL customer assistant announces in his London accent 'the next train
will arrive in one minute'. The time is 6pm in the evening and it has probably
been busy like this for an hour already. </p>
<p> </p>
Zigzagging the length of the platform we approach a
single lift to concourse level. Analysis of moving between floors provides <u>surprising
differences</u> in the way passengers use similar<u> things</u> such as escalators
and lifts. The lift is a 16 person lift, meaning the lift car is four square
metres. It would be an extremely tight fit for sixteen people, and we see only
four or five people at a time (see Figure 4). This part of the platform is quiet and nobody is waiting. This is
unsurprising as many people are leaving the Canary Wharf to go home in the
evening. We wait for the lift and see a parent with two children in a buggy and
two passengers exit. Entering the lift an almost undecipherable electronic
voice tells us the doors are shutting and 'stand clear of the doors.' The
feedback noise in the lift is disturbing, loud and discomforting. Ascending
slowly to the concourse level in a glazed lift, stainless steel mullions and
transoms fragment and confuse views. </td></tr></tbody></table>